Illusion apparatus.



No. 7I5,958. Patented- Dec. I6, |902.

A. W. BDORAEM &. F. T. HOWARD. A

ILLUSION APPARATUS. (Application med .rum 24, 1902,)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED VREAKS BOORAEMv AND FREDERICK TROWBRIDGE HOWARD,

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ILLUSION APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,958, dated December 16, 1902- Apvlication filed June 24, 1902. Serial No. 113,042. (No model.)

Our invention relates to an illusion apparatus for use more particularly upon sporting passenger-ways, such as pleasure-railroads, canals, &c.

Our more particular object is to produce in the minds of passengers the illusory sensation that the vehicle upon which the passengers are carried breaks through ice or through some medium analogous thereto and continues to run upon a comparatively subma` rine way.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section showing our invention as applied to a pleasure-railway, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

A railroad-track comprising rails 1 1 2 2 is so arranged that two of its parts are disposed upon different levels, as indicated more par-A ticularly in Fig. 1,the lower portion of the track having upturned rails 3 3. Upon a longitudinal teeter-board 4. is mounted a short section of track, comprising the rails 5 5. frame and is provided with a counterweight 7, connected with its shorter end, for the purpose of keeping the teeter-board in alinernent with the rails 1 .1 upon the upper level of the track. The board is provided with a bevel 8, which engages a bevel 9 of the framework supporting the rails 1 1. A guard or shield 10 may be rigidly connected with the teeterboard for the purpose of preventing objects 4from falling .through the aperture between the bevels 8 and 9. This shield may also be used for the purpose of a danger-signal-that is to say, it may be painted red or otherwise so arranged as to give warning to the operative controlling the vehicle when the teeter- This board is pivoted at 6 upon a stout board is not in proper position for the car to run upon it.

Appropriate scenery 11 is displayed upon either side of the railway and may, if desired, represent arctic surroundings. The surface 12 may be of real ice or may be painted to represent ice, as desired. When the long end of the teeter-board is carried downward, the rails 5 5 upon the same engage the ends 3 3 of the upturned rails 2 2 of the lower level.

Below the scenery l2 is mounted submarine scenery, which may take the form of aquaria-tanks 13 13. These aquaria-tanks may be provided with divers living fishes, crabs, and other submarine organisms actually swimming and moving about, as indicated in Fig. 1, and a wrecked vessel may be represented at 11i.

The edges 15 ot' the teeter-board are rendered rough and jagged, so as to simulate the appearance of broken ice, and are made to fit accurately the rough and jagged edges 16 adjacent to the upper level of the railroad and substantially in alinement therewith, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The operation of our device is as follows: The car 17, beingloaded with passengers, runs along the track upon the upper level until it reaches the teeterboard, which of course should be in its normal position. (Indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.) After the center of the car passes the pivotal point 6 of the teeterboard, the car moving to the left, as shown, the teeter-board careens to the left, so that the car runs down an incline. The passengers not suspecting anything of this kind have the illusory sensation that the car is breaking through the ice and becoming submerged in the water beneath the same. fact, the passengers have an ideal sensation as if the car after breaking through the ice continues its journey through the water. The fishes and other organisms, becoming frightened at the sudden entrance of the car, dart suddenly in various directions,just as they would do if the car should actually splash into the water near them. After reaching the lower level the car continues its journey and is carried back to the starting-point in any desired manner.

The illusion can be rendered still more com- IOO plete, if desired, by giving the railroad-track a sharp curve, as at 18, and so disposing the representation of the wreck 14: that the car appears just about to collide with it when the car reaches the curve and is carried to one side of the wreck.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl 1. An illusion apparatus, comprising a longitudinal way provided with a plurality7 of levels, a vehicle for carrying passengers, and means for automatically shifting said vehicle from one of said levels to another, each of said levels being provided with scenery peculiar thereto as distinguished from scenery peculiar to other levels.

2. An illusion apparatus, comprising a longitudinal way made in sections, adjacent ends of said sections being disposed upon different horizontal levels, a tilting member constituting a continuation of said Way and disposed between said sections,said tilting inember being free to engage either of said sections, and a vehicle for carryingr passengers upon said way and free to actuate said tilting member by its own weight.

3. An illusion apparatus, comprising a longitudinal way provided with tracks and with a plurality of portions disposed upon different levels, a false support pivotally mounted between said portions and normally engaging an upper level of said way but free to engage a lower level thereof, and a passengercar free to run upon said upper level of said way and upon said false support, the arrangement being such that said ear by it-s own Weight aetuates said false support and is precipitated from said upper to said lower level of said Way.

4. An illusion apparatus,comprisingahorizontal railway having tracks disposed upon upper and lower levels, ateeter-board having tracks mating the tracks upon said upper and lower level, said teeter-board being provided with rugged edges simulating the appearance of broken ice, arctic scenery disposed adjacent to the upper level of said railway and provided with rugged edges mating those of the teeter board and likewise simulating broken ice, a passenger-car for tilting said teeter-board,andsubmarinescenery disposed adjacent to the lower level of said railway.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED WREAKS BOORAEM. FREDERICK TROWBRIDGE HOWARD.

Vitnesses:

WALTON HARRISON, EVERARD BOLTON MARSHALL. 

